As used herein, the word "book", whether or singular or plural, is intended to refer to reading matter in any form, as for example but not limited to, books, magazines, papers, brochures, pictures, photos and illustrations.
Many book supports have been designed and constructed heretofore for use while reading in bed or the like. For example, Motono describes a book holder in U.S. Pat. No. 1,609,180 having a tray containing various levers and rods for retaining the book in an open position and supported from a yoke attached to a floor or bed stand positioned to the side of the reader, Culbertson describes in U.S. Pat. No. 1,671,123 an adjustable reading or writing stand having a tiltable table for holding a book or writing paper and supported by a wire stand of fixed height that straddles the user's body, and Aibel describes in U.S. Pat. No. 2,741,869 a reading stand having a book support set at a fixed angle and supported by a pair of tubular inverted "U" shaped legs which straddle the reader's body.
Further, Anderson describes in U.S. Pat. No. 2,828,577 a book holder having a book support frame tiltable to three different angles and suspended from the apex of inverted "V" shaped legs of fixed length and adjustable angle, Lykes describes in U.S. Pat. No. 2,908,465 a holder for a bed reader which has a tiltable flat platen for retaining the book at the end of an arm supported by "L" shaped legs straddling the reader's body, and Reed describes in U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,629 an adjustable stand containing a tiltable tray held on a transverse rod supported at its ends by inverted "V" shaped legs of substantially fixed angle but adjustable length.
Still further, Adams describes in U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,015 a book supporting device having a transparent book support tray of substantially fixed angle held by inverted, approximately "V" shaped legs of adjustable length, Weir describes in U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,709 a reading table having a book support tray much like that of a music stand and tiltably attached to an rotatable arm supported by a cross-member attached to the upper ends of "L" shaped legs that straddle the reader's body, and Vega describes in U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,589 a reading desk having a fixed angle tray supported along each side edge by tubular "L" shaped support members providing knee-space therebetween.
These and other prior art book supports for supine or seated readers suffer from a number of disadvantages well known in the art. For example, most have been designed so that the reading matter is at an imperfect angle and/or distance with respect to the viewer or are unduly complicated in construction or use. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for a book support for supine and/or seated readers that is simple in construction, highly adjustable to provide the desired viewing distance and angle, easy to use, and compact to store.